Go Bold with Joetey Attariwala

Our focus for this episode is Exercise Cutlass Fury, a biennial Canadian Navy-led multi-national exercise that provides an opportunity for allied forces to train in a joint maritime environment. This training includes anti-submarine warfare, air defence, and surface warfare to name a few.

Joining for this episode is Commodore Trevor MacLean of the Royal Canadian Navy. Commodore MacLean is the Commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, and he was the senior officer at sea leading Exercise Cutlass Fury 23. 

The principle focus of Exercise Cutlass Fury is anti-submarine warfare (ASW) but it's certainly not limited to that alone. Also exercised is air and maritime integration, and interoperability between Allies and joint elements.

The exercise happened in September, and there were approximately 1,400 participating sailors, soldiers, and aviators from the armed forces of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Eight ships from the Royal Canadian Navy and US Navy took part this year. Canadian ships included HMCS Charlottetown, HMCS Fredericton, HMCS Max Bernays, HMCS Glace Bay, HMCS Moncton, and for a short time the Victoria class submarine HMCS Windsor. US Navy ships comprised the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Porter (DDG 78) and USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), and a US Navy Virginia class attack submarine. Also participating was the support ship USNS William McLean.

In addition, multiple classes and types of aircraft participated, including the CP-140 Aurora and CH-148 Cyclone from Canada, the P-8 Poseidon from the UK, the P-3 Orion from Germany, and the Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft from France.

There was a lot to the exercise, but some key things to listen for include the opportunity for the Royal Canadian Navy to use one of its new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel's as a target launching platform; using the Royal Canadian Navy's Distributed Mission Operations Center (DMOC) in the exercise; and exercising Link 11 and Link 16 connectivity.

You'll also hear about the Royal Canadian Navy's need to modernize its Halifax class so it stays relevant into the future, and you'll hear about the distributed training that's planned for the future.

It's a great chat with a lot of insight, so we thank Commodore MacLean for his time, and we hope you'll enjoy this episode of Go Bold!

This episode focuses on the the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) first ever participation in Exercise Cobra Warrior, a Royal Air Force (RAF) led Large Force Employment exercise.

Cobra Warrior is hosted by the UK's Air & Space Warfare Centre which is located at RAF Waddington.

The Exercise is held twice a year, and it takes place across the UK and over multiple domains including air, sea, land, space and cyber.

We published a detailed overview of Exercise Cobra Warrior in Go Bold #48, so we encourage you to listen to that episode as a compendium to this episode where we are focused on Exercise Cobra Warrior 23-2.

This iteration of Cobra Warrior involved more than 50 aircraft from 6 allied countries including: Canada, USA, Italy, Norway, Australia and the UK, along with a NATO E-3A Airborne Warning & Control System (AWACS) which managed large areas of battlespace and provide surveillance and communications. These aircraft worked together to support a fictional country in conflict to regain sovereign territory.

According to a senior officer at the Air & Space Warfare Centre, the intent of Exercise Cobra Warrior was to bring allied forces together in order to enhance the ability to work collaboratively on demanding missions and in dynamic threat environments.

Cobra Warrior 23-2 was the first time the exercise conducted operations at night, so that added an entirely new aspect to the operations.

For its first ever participation at Cobra Warrior, the Royal Canadian Air Force dispatched an Air Task Force which included CF-18 Hornet fighter jets and the CC-150 Polaris air refueling tanker. RCAF C-17 strategic airlift aircraft also supported the deployment into Europe.

Numerous other types of aircraft participated during the exercise, including the RAF’s F-35B Lightning which took part from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. Also participating were RAF Typhoon fighter jets; F-35s from the United States and Norway, F-16s, Voyager MRTT air refueling tankers, HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and many more.

Our guest to speak about the Royal Canadian Air Force's participation is Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Lawrence, the Commanding Officer of 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron, and the Commander of the Air Task Force for Canada's participation in Cobra Warrior 23-2.

We have a great discussion where we speak about leadership, fighter pilot training, the CF-18 Hornet, and combat operations, and then we dive into the happenings of Exercise Cobra Warrior 23-2.

It's an awesome chat with a ton of great information, so we hope you'll enjoy this conversation.

Our thanks to LtCol Lawrence for his time and insight.

Go Bold!

Our guest for this episode is Rear-Admiral Brian Santarpia of the Royal Canadian Navy, who at the time of our chat was Commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic, Commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic, and he was also the Maritime Component Commander who advises the Commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC). 

In addition to being a graduate of the National Security Program, RAdm Santarpia holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Royal Roads Military College Victoria, and a Masters of Defence Studies from Royal Military College of Canada Kingston.

RAdm Santarpia was promoted to Commodore in July 2013 and appointed Director General Naval Personnel. He led the transformation of that organization and assumed the duties of the first Director General Navy Strategic Readiness in April 2014. From December 2014 until April 2015 he was deployed to Bahrain where he commanded Combined Task Force 150, a multi-national group of ships and aircraft conducting counter-terrorism operations. Upon his return to Canada, he was appointed to Chief of Staff to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff and later appointed Director General Plans at the Strategic Joint Staff in July 2016. In May 2018, he joined the Canadian Joint Operations Command as the Chief of Staff.

RAdm Santarpia was appointed as Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic in June 2020. His position as Maritime Component Commander makes him one of the most informed Naval Officers in the Royal Canadian Navy -- this position enables him to have acute insight into the maritime security picture of the day.

Our discussion spans a number of topics from service and leadership, to naval warfare and naval platforms like submarines, the future of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel capability, and the future Canadian Surface Combatant. We also talk about important capabilities like Cooperative Engagement Capability.

Our chat took place shortly before RAdm Santarpia's retirement, and it predates the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza.

It's a wide ranging chat with great insight, so we really hope you enjoy this episode.

Our thanks to Rear-Admiral Santarpia for his time and kindness, and we thank him for his service to Canada.

Go Bold!

We here at Go Bold pride ourselves on bringing senior leaders to you, and we also pride ourselves on preserving history, which is what the last two episodes and this episode does to a tee!

In our last 2 episodes, we had the pleasure to visit with Commander Corey Gleason of the Royal Canadian Navy, who at the time was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), Canada's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel, and the namesake of the class.

Our previous chats were from Commander Gleason's quarters aboard HMCS Harry DeWolf when it was at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in British Columbia. That marked the half-way point of HMCS Harry DeWolf's historic first operational deployment in 2021 which circumnavigated North America in a counter clockwise direction.

The first half of the circumnavigation started in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then went up and into the Northwest Passage, and then around Alaska before heading south to Victoria.

I encourage you to take the time to listen to the last two episodes to get an appreciation for the ship and its crew and everything they did up to that point -- it's all from Commander Gleason's first hand perspective -- so if you are interested in the capabilities of Canada's new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels, these episodes are a must listen!!

The story didn't end in Victoria though, because there's a lot more to cover for the rest of the deployment!

For this episode we are privileged to have Commander Gleason rejoin us, and this time from Halifax. Our chat happened soon after HMCS Harry DeWolf returned from its deployment, and I dare say that collectively, these 3 episodes comprise some of the most detailed accounts of the deployment that you will ever hear!

My sound was a bit compromised, but Commander Gleason comes through clearly, and he's the one you want to hear anyway, so I really hope you'll enjoy this episode because you'll hear about leadership; the ship embarking a United States Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LE Det); operating new Multi-Role Rescue Boats; chasing down drug smugglers; what it's like to go through the Panama Canal; manning the ship and comparisons to other naval vessels; dodging storms; and so much more!

All of these are first-ever events for the Harry DeWolf class ships.

There's over 4 hours of content across these 3 episodes with Commander Gleason, and that's because we believe these firsts must be preserved. It really is an epic deployment, and we have the privilege to hear all about it from the first Commanding Officer himself!

I want to thank Commander Gleason for his time and kindness in sharing his perspective of the inaugural deployment of HMCS Harry DeWolf, and I also want to thank the crew for their hospitality when I was aboard the ship.

Go Bold!

In our last episode of Go Bold we introduced you to Commander Corey Gleason of the Royal Canadian Navy. 

We spoke with Commander Gleason when he was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), the Royal Canadian Navy's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel. 

We did the interview onboard the ship when it was in Victoria, British Columbia, which was one of the stops during its 2021 inaugural deployment to circumnavigate North America.

In this episode we continue our chat with Commander Gleason who shared his first-hand perspective of transiting the Northwest Passage, and technical aspects of operating a warship in the Arctic.

You'll learn about the capabilities of this new class of Navy offshore patrol ship, including the use of a towed array sonar to surveil the water column for underwater threats; and you'll hear Commander Gleason's personal and often emotional account of the cultural significance of the deployment.

You'll also hear about the importance of presence in the North and in the Arctic -- it is an area of growing interest to peers and competitors alike -- and all of this is straight from an expert in Arctic naval operations, our guest, Commander Corey Gleason. 

Note that this episode gets us to a mid-point in the deployment to circumnavigate North America, so please look for our next episode where we hear about the rest of HMCS Harry DeWolf's epic and historic deployment.

Go Bold!

We are really excited to bring this episode to you because it illustrates so much of what we try to do at Go Bold, and that is to inform, educate, commemorate and even entertain. 

Part of that includes preserving history from those that make it, so you'll get all of that and so much more in the next few episodes which feature my guest, Commander Corey Gleason of the Royal Canadian Navy.

We were privileged to conduct this interview in 2021 when Commander Gleason was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Harry DeWolf, Canada's first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV).

Commander Gleason was the first Commanding Officer of the HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), and we had our chat on board the ship and in the Captain's quarters after it arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, which was one of its many stops as part of its inaugural deployment which had the ship circumnavigate North America.

The first-of-class deployment of HMCS Harry DeWolf marked many notable events, and high among them was the first time in decades where a Royal Canadian Navy ship transited the Northwest Passage (from East to West). The last time was in 1954 with HMCS Labrador.

In this episode you'll hear about Commander Gleason's motivation to serve, some of his career highlights, and you'll hear about his leadership style.

You'll also hear about the genesis of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) program in Canada, and aspects of the class that make it an impressive new addition to the Royal Canadian Navy.

We are publishing this episode today to mark the Grey Cup in Canada, and we are doing so because HMCS Harry DeWolf escorted the Grey Cup trophy from Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario, where the big game is being held.

I really hope you'll enjoy these next few episodes because you'll hear all about a new class of Navy ship and you'll hear about historic firsts -- you'll hear about ship design and capabilities, Arctic sovereignty, climate change, Indigenous engagement and collaboration, and so much more, and you'll hear it all from a highly respected, highly experienced and thoughtful leader, our guest, Commander Corey Gleason (who recently retired from the Royal Canadian Navy).

We thank Commander Gleason for his time and kindness to us, and we thank the men and women of HMCS Harry DeWolf for their hospitality during our visit aboard.

Please remember that this is Part 1 of a few episodes, so be sure to like and follow so you ca listen to get the full story about the ship and its historic inaugural deployment!

Go Bold!

Our episode today is another first for us as this is the first time we are welcoming two guests in an episode, and I'm thrilled to share that both are senior leaders in their respective global defence organizations.

Our chat centres around the critical aspect of supporting the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and we're specifically focusing on Canada's future fleet of F-35's, of which the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) will acquire 88 of the highly advanced 5th Generation stealth aircraft.

Buying aircraft is one thing, but supporting them is entirely different, so what you'll hear in our discussion is the importance of efficiently supporting the F-35, which requires sustainment in a whole new way, and you'll hear about it framed in the context of service to country, entrepreneurship, outright fortitude and lessons learned.

Joining for this episode is Jacques Comtois, who started his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he served as a Commanding Officer, 3 Air Maintenance Squadron (3 AMS) in Bagotville, Québec.

Jacques is now Vice President of Arcfield Canada, a company that has been a trusted partner to the Canadian Armed Forces for more than 35 years in supplying in-service and integrated logistics support to the CF-18 fleet through its expertise in supply chain management, maintenance and repair, and engineering solutions.

Also joining is Rene de Koning, the CEO and owner of OneLogistics, a company that was specifically set up to support the European F-35 program to deal with European rules, regulations and complexities of the F-35 supply chain. OneLogistics is now Europe’s leading supply chain partner for sustainment of the F-35 fighter.

These gentlemen bring a wealth of experience from the military and from industry, and they are now combining Arcfield Canada’s expertise in supporting Canada's fighter fleet with OneLogistics’ unmatched experience as a Product Support Provider for the F-35.

It's a really interesting discussion so I want to thank both of my guests for their time and insight on their solution to support Canada's future fleet of F-35s, and perhaps more!

Go Bold!

This episode is a special one for a few reasons. First, we are saluting the United States Navy which is celebrating its 248th birthday! 

In tribute of that anniversary, we thought it would be appropriate that this episode feature someone from the US Navy, so I am honored to introduce our guest, Captain Jonathan Lipps, Commander of Task Force SIX FOUR, and NATOs commander Task Group Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) which is assigned to Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, otherwise known as STRIKFORNATO.

As it happened, on the day of our interview in June, and down to the hour in fact, Commodore Lipps was celebrating 30 years of serving in the United States Navy. The timing of our interview and the Commodores work anniversary was pure happenstance, but I felt a sense of honor that we could mark that milestone together. Congratulations Sir! 

We at Go Bold are also celebrating an anniversary of sorts because this is our 50th episode! It's a great milestone, and it's all thanks to our team, to our amazing listeners, and to all the wonderful guests that we have had from allied militaries around the world! Thanks to you all, and GO BOLD!

So that brings me to my guest for today's episode, Commodore Jonathan Lipps, whose career focus has been on Integrated Air and Missile Defense. 

The importance of IAMD cannot be understated because it is meant to protect territory, populations and forces against air and missile threat and attack; and it is meant to contribute to deterrence. It's an incredibly important topic, and one that is more topical today than perhaps ever before.

In this episode you'll hear Commodore Lipps speak about his journey in the US Navy, including his perspective on the development of IAMD capability in the US Navy. This includes the first intercepts of ballistic missile targets with the Standard Missile-3 guided missile; his time at the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex; and his time at the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System in Romania.

We also talk about multi-domain integration, and modern data-links which support real-time engagement of distributed weapons across the Joint Force. We then talk about Exercise Formidable Shield 2023 and why it is so important for NATO.

Exercise Formidable Shield is Europe's largest and most complex IAMD Exercise. It is a biennial exercise which is meant to demonstrate Allied interoperability in a joint live-fire, Integrated Air and Missile Defense environment using NATO command and control reporting structures. The exercise took place over a 1,000 nautical mile area from the west coast of Scotland to Northern Norway -- so that's from the North Atlantic to the Arctic Circle -- and it brings together ships, aircraft and ground based units from throughout the NATO alliance.

Commodore Lipps was the Task Group Commander of the exercise, and his command ship was the Spanish guided missile frigate, SPS Blas de Lezo (F103).

A total of 20 surface ships from across NATO took part in the exercise, with ships from the United States, France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands launching numerous missiles against subsonic, supersonic and ballistic missile targets. These missiles included the Aster-15, Aster-30, Standard Missile-2, and Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSM).

Not only did ships fire missiles, but land units employing HIMARS and NASAMS also engaged targets during Formidable Shield.

Integrated Air and Missile Defense is a fascinating topic, and even more so when you think of the maritime application of the capability, so you don't want to miss this front-seat perspective from a pioneer and expert in this capability -- our guest, Commodore Jonathan Lipps, of the United States Navy.

Thank you, Commodore Lipps, for your time and kindness, and for your service!

Go Bold!

We are proud to welcome as our guest, Commodore David Mazur, the Commander of Canadian Fleet Pacific.

Commodore Mazur is responsible for the combat readiness of the Pacific Fleet, and he has over 10 deployers and numerous auxiliary support vessels under his command.

For this episode, we were on board His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Winnipeg, a Halifax class surface combatant while it was underway in the Eastern Pacific as the command ship for Exercise Trident Fury 2023, which is the Pacific’s Fleet's premier combined and joint exercise. 

Exercises like Trident Fury are critical to maintaining the operational readiness of Canadian Armed Forces and allies as it presents demanding maritime conditions in a simulated hostile environment which is shaped by escalating tensions.

Commodore Mazur was on board HMCS Winnipeg as the Task Group Commander during Exercise Trident Fury.

The exercise had six Canadian Navy ships participating (HMCS' Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Yellowknife, Nanaimo), alongside U.S. assets, NATO partners, and some ships of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) -- JS Kashima and JS Hatakaze.

A key participant in the exercise was the Combat Support Ship Asterix, a platform owned and operated by Federal Fleet Services, and is leased to the Royal Canadian Navy to provide multi-mission support, primarily with its ability to provide Replenishment-at-Sea (RAS).

Asterix joined into Exercise Trident Fury while it was already underway, and that's because the ship arrived into the Eastern Pacific (on schedule) after it circumnavigated the world while supporting deployed operations of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Over 1,000 military personnel took part across all units and platforms, including Royal Canadian Navy ships, numerous Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft (CF-18, CC-130H(T), CP-140), Canadian Army personnel, and units from the United States (EA-18G Growler, P-8 Poseidon, A-10 Warthog), as well as NATO partners, and Japan.

Exercise Trident Fury 2023 had a number of other exercises within its overarching umbrella, including:

Exercise Unified Vision, the premier NATO event for Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) activities.

Exercise Vital Archer, a bilateral US-Canada exercise focused on counter-terrorism, and counter weapons of mass destruction.

Exercise Fox Frenzy, a missile exercise which had CF-18 Hornets engage Vindicator aerial target drones that were launched from HMCS Winnipeg.

One of Exercise Trident Fury's primary objectives was pre-deployment training for HMCS Ottawa and HMCS Vancouver's deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. 

Known as Intermediate Multi-Ship Readiness Training (IMSRT), the training involved a full spectrum of sea and air tactical warfare training, including live-fire exercises, seamanship, maritime interdiction operations, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, air defense, mine counter-measures, and small boat defense.

The exercise also served as an opportunity to experiment with ship crewing models for the Royal Canadian Navy, and that's to facilitate the training backlog for sailors in the wake of the training slow-down that happened as a result of the pandemic. Our conversation focused a lot on training because as the Commodore said, it's all about "saving the Navy."

As an update to this episode, HMCS Ottawa and HMCS Vancouver achieved their high readiness certifications after Exercise Trident Fury, so these ships and their helicopter air detachments are now in the Indo-Pacific region as part of Operation Horizon.

We wish to thank the men and women of HMCS Winnipeg for their hospitality, and we thank Commodore Mazur for the time he spent with us.

Go Bold!

Our podcast spans the world to learn about the men and women who serve their countries, and we pride ourselves on showcasing senior leaders of allied militaries. This episode continues that trend.

Joining us is Group Captain Andrew Burton, the Deputy Commandant of the U.K. Air & Space Warfare Centre which is located at RAF Waddington.

The Air & Space Warfare Centre is the organization responsible for planning and hosting Exercise Cobra Warrior, a large scale exercise that happens twice a year (spring and autumn), with each serial running for approximately 3 weeks.

Our chat occurred late last year after the Cobra Warrior 2022 autumn serial, which had participants from the U.K., the United States, Germany and Italy; and it was the first time the Royal Air Force used the innovative SPEAR software.

We are bringing this discussion to you now because we are on the heels of the 2023 autumn serial of Exercise Cobra Warrior (23-2), which includes a first time participant with the Royal Canadian Air Force sending seven CF-18 fighters, and one CC-150 Polaris Air refueling tanker.

After arriving in the UK, the Canadian aircraft were supported by a Royal Air Force Voyager multi-role tanker transport aircraft, otherwise known as the A330 MRTT. That is the same type of aircraft that Canada has selected for its Strategic Tanker Transport Capability (STTC) project, so the exercise has already delivered great training value even though it has not officially started.

Exercise Cobra Warrior is a large force multinational and multi-domain tactics development exercise. Common serials within the exercise include Offensive Counter Air; Defensive Counter Air; Joint Personnel Recovery; and support of land forces.

You'll hear all about the exercise from Group Captain Burton, who said the ultimate goal is to develop it into the "Red Flag of Europe."

We thank Group Captain Burton for his time and insight into this impressive exercise.

Go Bold!